In a move few expected, two of the most respected names in game development teamed up today. BioWare announced it has struck a deal with Epic Games to licenses its Unreal 3.0 engine. Apparently the deal was sealed some time ago, as "a BioWare development team is already hard at work on the Unreal Engine 3-powered game," according to the two companies' statement.
While the developer already has two high-profile games in the works--Jade Empire and Dragon Age--the Unreal engine will be used for "an as-yet unannounced title which features BioWares third new intellectual property." The joint statement said nothing about which platforms the game will be released on. "One of our development teams will now focus on using Unreal Engine 3 to help us create a great gaming experience in a timely manner," was all BioWare co-CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka would say.
However, just because BioWare is licensing the Unreal engine doesn't mean that it is stopping work on its own proprietary game tech. Both Jade Empire and Dragon Age will run on BioWare made-engines, and the company "will continue to independently develop our own cutting-edge engine technology for future titles," according to co-CEO Dr. Greg Zeschuk.
Actually it says new IP so probably a whole new game